1957 Philippine Senate election


A senatorial election was held on November 12, 1957 in the Philippines. The Nacionalista Party, despite losing two seats to the Liberal Party still held the Senate with twenty seats. The Liberals who won were actor Rogelio de la Rosa and former basketball player Ambrosio Padilla.

Electoral system

Senate elections are held via plurality block voting with staggered elections, with the country as an at-large district. The Senate has 24 seats, of which 8 seats are up every 2 years. The eight seats up were last contested in 1951; each voter has eight votes and can vote up to eight names, of which the eight candidates with the most votes winning the election.

Retiring incumbents

  1. Jose P. Laurel, retired from politics

Mid-term vacancies

  1. Manuel Briones, died on September 29, 1957

Incumbents running elsewhere

These ran in the middle of their Senate terms. For those losing in their respective elections, they can still return to the Senate to serve out their term, while the winners will vacate their Senate seats, then it would have been contested in a special election concurrently with the next general election.
  1. Claro M. Recto, ran for president and lost
  2. Lorenzo Tañada, ran for vice president and lost

Results

The Nacionalista Party won six seats contested in the election, while the Liberal Party won two.
Nacionalistas Roseller T. Lim, Cipriano Primcias Sr., and Gil Puyat defended their Senate seats
The two winning Liberals are neophyte senators: Ambrosio Padilla and Rogelio de la Rosa. Also entering the Senate for the first time are Nacionalistas Eulogio Balao, Oscar Ledesma, and Arturo Tolentino.
Incumbent Jose Zulueta left the Nacionalista Party for the People's Democratic Movement for Good Government; he lost the election. Two Nacionalistas also lost: Francisco Afan Delgado and Jose Locsin.
Key:
  • ‡ Seats up
  • + Gained by a party from another party
  • √ Held by the incumbent
  • * Held by the same party with a new senator
  • ^ Vacant

Defeated incumbents

  1. Francisco Afan Delgado, appointed as permanent representative to the United Nations in 1958
  2. Jose Locsin, appointed as chairman of the National Economic Council in 1958
  3. Jose Zulueta, ran for governor of Iloilo in 1959 and won